Chapter 1: Quick Start Guide
CHAPTER 1 Quick Start Guide 1.1 WHAT THE GAME IS ALL ABOUT The Legacy of Sulla (aka ―LOS‖) is a role-playing game set during the tumultuous years of what would later be known as the Roman Revolution. The men of Rome in 78 BC didn‘t know they were in the middle of a revolution, but the Republic they loved was facing a series of crises which would eventually bring about its downfall, being replaced by a monarchy in the form of an Emperor. LOS places you directly in the middle of things during those troubled times! Our ―game clock‖ commences right after the Dictatorship of Lucius Cornelius Sulla (see Chapter 2 for a complete rundown on key events and personalities). Sulla is no longer on the scene, and the Senate must decide its next move. Now, history is up for grabs! What will happen to Rome? Will it remain a functioning, albeit troubled Republic? Or will the inexorable forces of history and destiny attempt to reassert themselves, as an increasingly chaotic political climate spells the end of republican dreams? Well….that‘s up to us! 1.1.1 How Do I Join? Simple! Kind of.... First, what you'll want to do is join the AW group. To do this, go back to the main Legacy of Sulla page. Up at the top you'll see a 'Join this group' message somewhere...click on that, follow the directions, and you're golden! Second, to join the game play, you'll first have to peruse the different starting profiles. Once you find one you like, email your profile choice as well as a character backstory (including at least the age and class of your character) to the Arbiters at sullas.game@gmail.com. Once approved, you may post all those details publicly on the Character Creation thread. 1.1.2 What are My Responsibilities in the Game? There are just some basic things we ask of you, if you choose to join us at Legacy of Sulla:  Visit the site at least once a week (if you log into LOS less often than that, you will fall very far behind on the various storylines). Most players find it best to check the site at least once every other day.  Make a post at least once a month. That‘s the minimum if you‘re a Writer. If you‘re a Player Character, you‘ll probably need to post more often than that, in order to keep your character viable.  Submit a Financial Update and an Influence Update at end of every two months. This is a requirement for Player Characters only.  Use your best grammar, punctuation and writing skills. We don‘t expect you to have the background of a History Professor or an award-winning novelist. We would, however, like to see your inputs in the form of readable prose. That means, at a minimum, properly formed sentences and reasonably decent punctuation (especially capitalization of proper nouns and use of quotation marks when characters are speaking).  Keep your posts historically correct. Watch out for anachronisms (things that are inappropriate for the time period of the Legacy of Sulla—around 75-80 B.C.). For example, don‘t write that ―Lucius was awakened by the sound of his alarm clock in the hours before dawn. He rose and brushed his teeth, carefully rolling the toothpaste tube so as to get the last few bits of the mint-flavored gel onto his brush.‖ Nor should you refer to the Roman Emperor in your posts…there isn‘t one yet. We‘re still a Republic!  Sit down and read the rules before you get too far into the game! You don‘t have to go through the rules cover to cover…yet! But before you‘ve completed your first month with us, it would be a very good idea to have read them, and to have had any of your lingering questions answered by the Arbiters or other players. 1.2 DECIDE HOW YOU WANT TO PARTICIPATE People join The Legacy of Sulla for a number of reasons. Some just want to follow the action, but pretty much stay on the sidelines. Others want to contribute to the story, but in a fairly passive way. Their characters put up a post now and then, but they don‘t contribute directly by running for political office, trying cases in the courts, voting in the Senate, etc. Members of this group are classified as Writers. Others want to take a more active role in the group. They develop a complete character, have finances they track, and embark on a political (or other) career within the context of the game. These folks are the true Player Characters (PCs), and start out as Citizens. Once a citizen has them established, they can begin earning money through trade, property ownership and other dealings. When elections come around, they can stand for political office. Once elected, they begin their trek up the Cursus Honorum by holding various political offices, most typically beginning with Quaestors or Tribune of the Plebs. We really hope that you will consider becoming a Player Character (PC). You will then get ―promoted‖ to Citizen and you‘ll be off and running. Let myself or one of the Advisors know what you‘d like to do, and we‘ll set you up! 1.3 INVENTING YOUR CHARACTER Compelling characters in our game don‘t just happen…they take time and effort to create. If you are going to participate in our game, you will need to do a little work to create your character. We‘ll show you how, step by step. 1.3.1 Patrician or Plebeian? The first decision you have to make is to which of the two major social classes will your character belong? Patricians are the aristocratic blue bloods of Rome. Plebeians, by contrast, were the ―common folk,‖ but it wasn‘t quite as simple as all that. Many a Plebeian had a pedigree every bit as impressive as the most refined Patrician. Take a peek at Chapter 3 to discover some of those nuances before you decide whether your character will be a Plebeian or a Patrician. 1.3.2 PC Starting Profiles You have several starting profiles available to you (see Chapter 4 for a rundown). Some of these profiles apply to both Patrician and Plebeian characters; others are unique to one class or the other. Chapter 4 has the complete rundown on how to create the perfect Player Character, including VERY useful information on each of the various Starting Profiles from which you can choose! I think it's a joke name, sir,... like, uh, 'Sillius Soddus' or... Take a moment to read over Chapter 3 and choose the profile best for you. You can also choose just to participate as a Writer. Chapter 4 provides additional details. 1.3.3 Choosing Just the Right Name Roman names can, admittedly, get somewhat confusing. The basic structure of a Roman name is praenomen (First name), nomen (Family Name), and cognomen (Family branch name, or nickname). To give an example, my character‘s name is Marcus (first name/praenomen) Aemilius (family name – I belong to the clan Aemilii) Corvus (a fictitious branch of the Aemilii). Many noble families follow this three name, or tria nomina, rule. If you are a New Man, you will likely lack the branch designator. For women characters, Roman women generally only went by the feminine version of their gens name. For instance, Aemilia for the Aemilii gens. However, they could also have a cognomen, in a feminine form – my character, were it a woman, would most likely be name Aemilia Corva. You can find more information, as well as lists of example names, on Wikipedia. 1.3.3.1 Log-On Name Different than your PC’s Name? You may have a name for your Player Character (PC) which is considerably different than your "log-on" name (the name you enter when logging onto Ancient Worlds). That can cause a certain amount of confusion when playing the game here at Legacy of Sulla, both for yourself and the other PC's! Here are a couple of recommendations which will help everyone out: 1. Always include your PC's name in post titles. For example, if my PC is named Quintus Crassus, and he wishes to sign up for a court case, but my login name was something very different (Like Billy Bob Servilius) I would title my post something like "Signing Up on the Court Docket ~ Q. Crassus" That way, anyone reading the post knows that it's Quintus Crassus conducting business within the context of the game. This is easy to do, and really keeps the confusion level down. 2. Open a new AW account using your PC's actual name (or something close to it). A new account at AW:Rome doesn't cost a thing! If you can manage to come up with a name reasonably close to your character's in-game name, considering opening a new account with that log-in name. That's what I did when I created the account "Tiberius Gallus Cornelius." My actual PC is just a New Man, without any connection to the Cornelii, but that "Tiberius Gallus" just jumps out at you, so when you see the new post, you know exactly who it is that's making the posting. 1.3.3.2 Deconflicting Your Character’s Name with Other Player Characters If you look at the main heading ―Characters‖ on the LOS home page, you will see a thread beneath it titled ―CurrentActive Player Profiles.‖ This is the "Who's Who of LOS" list that new players should consult when attempting to learn their way around the game, and it may assist them in developing their own PC profiles. If you are developing a character whose name is very close to that of a Current active player, you may want to ―deconflict‖ your player‘s family tree with that of the other PC. You cannot claim direct kinship with another PC (―Hey PC Quintus Fabius, I‘m your long lost younger brother, Sextus Fabius!‖) without their prior permission! That‘s a no-no, unless you first clear it with the senior PC in question. Again, the Arbiters will be only too happy to assist you with this. 1.3.4 Add your NPC Associates Your character will need some Non-Playing Character (NPC) Associates to help him out in the game. NPC‘s are very helpful. If you‘re away from Rome on a military campaign, they become your voice in the Senate, so you can still debate important bills, and vote on key issues of legislation. They can handle all sorts of your personal business. Sometimes it‘s just plain useful to have a NPC around so your PC has someone to talk to as you write out one of your storylines! You can start with up to five NPC Associates. We highly recommend that at least one of your NPCs is a Senator, and if your PC is a Patrician, at least one of your NPC Associates should be a member of the Plebeian class, so that he can speak from the Rostra to the Plebeian Assembly on your behalf. 1.3.5 Fill Out Your Family Tree We don‘t need a full-out genealogy, but you should list the name of your father, any siblings, spouse or children you have as you start out. These can be just names, or you can give them a more active role as NPC associates. 1.3.6 Ceate Your Character’s Profile and Write Your “Backstory” Once you have chosen a Starting Profile, you must complete a backstory for your character. Things the back story should contain are:  Name  Class (Plebeian or Patrician)  Age  Physical description  Married status (and the particulars of the spouse)  A short biography (your the life story, family details, past achievements) Having trouble choosing just the right-sounding Roman name? (Hint: naming your character something like “Kevin Caesar” won‟t cut it!) Ask the Arbiters for assistance/suggestions on creating an appropriate-sounding name for your character and his NPC associates. We can also check your name against those of other players already in the game, to make sure there are no conflicts or crossed family trees.  Simple Genealogy (reference to prior characters can only be done with their express permission)  NPC Associates (characters that are part of your household/clientele, up to a maximum of 5) Some people write an elaborate backstory which will tell you a great deal about their character. Others just provide the basics in bulletized form. Either approach is acceptable, providing you give us enough information for your character to be viable in the game. 1.4 SUBMIT YOUR PROFILE FOR OUR APPROVAL Once this is done, email all that information to sullas.game@gmail.com. Once approved you may post it all to the Character Creation thread at the group. From there, you will want to start looking around the group and getting acquainted with the rules, leaders, and active members. When choosing a career for your character, do not be afraid to ask the Arbiter(s), Advisors, and group members for advice and information regarding posts, open storylines, etc. 1.5 JUMPING INTO THE GAME You‘re now ready to begin gameplay for real! Once your profile is approved, you will be promoted to ―Citizen.‖ At that point, post your PC Starting Profile/Backstory in the Character Creation Thread. At this point, you can begin posting…join a debate in the Senate, describe your home in the City, whatever! You‘re in the game! 1.6 HOW DO I QUIT? After a few days or weeks, some people decide that LOS just isn‘t for them. Others are kinda ―into it,‖ but the distractions and demands of real life gradually pull them away from LOS, and we never hear from them again. Both of those situations are perfectly understandable, and even to be expected… BUT!!! It really does leave us hanging at LOS, especially if the person who simply leaves us without telling us is running a major character in the game! So if you decide that LOS simply isn’t your cup of tea, or you have to take an extended leave of absence, please tell us. Please! We can then make arrangements for your character to be written out of the game, or at least park him/her is some convenient out of the way spot until you decide to return to active play. But please…don’t just leave us hanging. 1.7 NOW…READ THE RULES! You will find a wealth of information in the following pages. If you don‘t read the rules, you‘ll never be a good player here at LOS. Come on now, it won‘t be that painful, we promise! Players who are inactive for two months will have their status changed back to “Inactive” (entry level). If we don‟t hear from them after a few more weeks, they will be retired from the group. Once you fill out your PC Starting Profile & Backstory, be sure to submit it to the Arbiters for approval at sullas.game@gmail.com BEFORE you post it at the web site. We can help you refine your character, and catch any eLOSors or conflicts before you get started! The Legacy of Sulla © Copyright 2011 Jim Sebastian